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Lancecrossfire
Animoderator
07-13-2000
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 9:30 am
Is BB a reflection of society? In the context that the first post takes on, I feel the answer is yes, in many ways it is. First off, it is a game that uses members of society. Second, just like society, these folks have to act and interact with each other. Third, they are given a set of rules—some of them hard and clear cut, others more open to how one can proceed—just like life is. Fourth, these people must adapt and make changes to situations that either change or that were not what they expected to happen. Life seems to give us that as well. Fifth, the group consists of people that are different from on another—just like life. Of course because there are only 14 (this time anyway), the diversity in BB (or the similarity if you keep to only your own type in real life) isn’t the same because real life has way more than 14 people (at least for most of us). Sixth, there is a support system to keep BB going that they sometimes see and sometimes do not see. We have that same thing too. As additional evidence, I look at the posts on the board about BB—in affect we have created our own house, and play right along with them by looking at what they do (and what we do to each other), and we comment on it—sometimes a lot. We do this for other TV shows, and we also do it for situations we share with each other related to what is happening in our real life. I think in those terms, BB is a reflection of society. I also think it is in terms of how we strive for success. We have had folks on BB shows that are there for a number of reasons—a number of ideas of what success would be for them. One is cash on the show. Equate that to the wage you earn. Some folks will do whatever they can to win the 500K—just like some folks will do most anything to make more money. Some are there to win the money by playing within the rules and also following their own set of ethics. Just like in real life Some are there to win the money, or come as close to it as possible while also taking the chance to do something they wouldn’t get to do in any other facet of their life. In real life there are people who try and combine both a wage and unique work experiences. Some people go there to get camera and exposure time in hopes to having a shot at a career they feel would suit them. That also happens in real life—folks venture into different experiences worrying little about the money, and mainly what they will get out of it. Some of the BB people are known to have been basically picked, and had it not been for that never would have tried under their own thoughts. That too happens in real life. People are asked everyday to try something they wouldn’t have thought on their own to try. I think the rules are a reflection of society as well. From all the information floating around since BB1, it seems there are some things you can do which will get you in trouble no matter what. Then there are many other rules where they CAN do something to you. And sometimes they enforce it, sometimes they don’t (usually not though). To me, that sounds very similar to real life. An example of this at work could be something like this: If an employee burns down a building at work and is caught, it doesn’t matter of it’s the CEO or lowest paid worker; they will be fired (along with other things happening). If a person comes into work 15 minutes late, one person may get warned, chastised or maybe even fired, where another employee may have nothing said to them. These are the situations in BB we tend to feel are unfair. Same in real life. Ways in which BB isn’t too much like society. The time frame of BB is very finite and small compared to society. The affects one person has on others, or on other situations in other aspects of life isn’t likely to be as far reaching. It’s also known to be a game that has a known starting point and a known end point. Society doesn’t have that—it just keeps going and going. In BB, a small action may affect all or a majority of everyone in the game. That same action in society many be known and/or affect a very small amount of society. BB has fewer (ok, almost no) restrictions on how the HG’s can treat each other. They can yell at each other, call each other names, verbally attack family members—all sorts of things. But wait, doesn’t that kind of thing go on every day in society with lots of people not getting punished or reprimanded? I’d also like to throw out something to chew the fat about if you wish. BB is one of many reality TV shows out there. Yet, at least on this board, it by far exceeds the number of people it attracts, the volume of posts, the topics of threads, and intensity of the posts, and the passion of the posters—as mentioned above, we almost imitate BB the way we “play” (post about it) on the board. When it’s ugly in the house it typically gets ugly on the board. When it’s quite on the house, it’s typically more quite on the board. Why is that???? I would like to throw some ideas out there about that. First, I think it has to do with the premise of the show. In the scientific world, a situation would never be approved to study humans in this manner—locked up, for the most part kept out of contact with the rest of the world. Yet a game show can take a shot at it. So I think we are interested in looking at a situation that is unique and anyone could be in. No special skills are needed, any human can play and they use people we can relate to. Each gender is included, ages from 20 something to 50 something, married, divorced, single, going with someone, etc. We have quiet types, we have loud folks, we have heterosexuals and homosexuals. We have all sorts of jobs represented, we have people with various amounts of money. Of course because there is only 14, it’s hard to fit everyone in, but considering there is only 14, they do a good job of having something most of us can relate to. Next is the big one, IMHO. The 24 hour live feeds. When this is done (think back to BB1) there is going to be a lot of people who feel they actually know the 14 people—especially the ones who stay in the house the longest. I’ve read posts where words like love, hate, despise, trust, care for, like, etc are used in describing HGs. In order to have those types of feelings, you really have to feel you know them. Previous HGs have commented how people will talk to them like they are long lost friends—as if they really know who they are. This is unique to any of the other shows out there. People seem to form a bond to one or more HG. You know, in society, we form bonds with those we spend time with and get to know. All BB has to do to get America hooked (in comparison to other shows I mean) is allow as many people as possible access to the feeds. At TVCH, we have, on a small scale, already proven it works. Of course all of this is IMHO
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Spunky
Member
10-08-2001
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 10:19 am
Excellent description of a mini-society as compared to the society at large. We can't separate the two as they are similar. The BB house is a mini-society with all the variety of folks just as in the real world. Maybe the only difference is that in the mini-society of BB you only stand to lose a bunch of money and if you lose your integrity in the process no one will hold it against you with the excuse that it was just a game. In real life you don't have that excuse and your actions are not easily forgotten. But for the most part the BB mini-society is very much a reflection of the society we live in.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 10:39 am
First of all, the reason it exceeds the volume of posts is that we can watch 24/7. There are also three shows a week, and now there is also the nightly ShowTime Too experience. So there is far more to talk about than most other reality shows that air only once a week for only an hour. Totally apples and oranges. Secondly, I don't think that BB is a reflection of society. Maybe if we had no way to obtain information and make our own opinions. Maybe if we had no contact with anyone in the outside world. But again, apples and oranges. The only information these peeps get is from BB or from each other. At least in the outside world, we can pursue additional sources to ferret out truths and lies. In the real world, too, there are people who absolutely are living in a cocoon. For example, these would be people who were immediately turned off by Dick's looks (piercings, tats, and so on). These people have not come into contact with people who have piercings and tats. So the BB house is a more mixed up group of people and affiliations. Well, OK, to some extent, since most of these people do seem to fit a certain profile except for the odd black person, gay person, or rebel such as Dick or Howie. The "token" whatever.
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Neosporen
Member
08-18-2005
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 10:42 am
BB is in no way a reflection of society.. it is half (or more) scripted.The DR(Producers) Rig things and influence decissions, and the people are wana be actors/models, etc.... I can see having an interview to make sure you are not a Dahlmer...but they want particular people for "roles" so no it is NOTHING like real life
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Amac
Member
09-07-2001
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 10:43 am
Greed.... selfishness.... sexism..... racism..... anti-semitism..... exhibitionism.... rudeness.... bullying.... yeah, I'd say the houseguests are a microcosm of society at large. 
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Kearie
Member
07-21-2005
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 11:01 am
What I find truly fascinating is how the posters on the board behave. At TVCH we have a mini-society. Each year we all gather around and pick our favorites. We judge HG by their looks, by their game, by their behavior. We often reveal a great deal about ourselves in who we defend, behavior we defend. HOW far would I go to win half a mill? Some of the posters seem to be leaders, independent thinkers, while others seem to follow. Some posters are emotional, while others post only with logic. I think each message board becomes a mini-society. Perhaps WE are the scientific experiment.
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Lancecrossfire
Animoderator
07-13-2000
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 11:07 am
One could look at us that way Kearie if they chose to study us. Maybe TVCH is a reflection of society
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Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 11:11 am
If you were to take the extremes from a society, yes I could see how you could say that the BB house is a mini society. But it's not. Not everybody is just like those people in that house...they are the extremes, the producers picked them because they stood out...they were the ones who did something different from the group. This society is not made up of extremes, we have tons of people in the middle area...
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Kearie
Member
07-21-2005
| Friday, August 10, 2007 - 11:19 am
Lance, I wouldn't say TVCH is a reflection of society because many people post at other...less moderated boards. Just my humble opinion, but I think TVCH attracts a more...umm, err, more moral, classy group of people than other boards. More educated people. People are HERE, because they don't want the poster bashing, the cursing, the vile comments that other boards allow. I'm not sure if that is a society norm?
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